Steamboat
by CSX GP40-3
Summary: Blu was wandering about the jungle one morning when he meets a strange and eccentric bird named Paula. Jewel requested for Blu to keep Paula occupied. After getting to know each other, Paula shows Blu her scrap metal collection, and while at first Blu doesn't know what to make of it, he gets an idea that changes the course of their friendship.


**Author's Note: Hello again. I might as well have disappeared for the last several months. Up until two weeks ago, had no time at all for FanFiction. Now that the school workload is temporarily gone, I feel like myself once again, and I have a new story. (I remember trying to start that other one, and it was absolutely awful.). Without further ado, here is chapter 1 of my latest work.**

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**Chapter 1: Acquaintance**

It was a seemingly normal morning, with sunlight barely poking beyond the jungle leaves above, with vibrant orange shades hovering over the horizon. A light breeze brushed against forest canopy, blowing dry, brittle plant matter that skittered across the dusty forest floor. The environment was shrouded in great silence, which was unusual at this time of day. The only noises resounding through the rainforest were the occasional rustling of leaves. A gust blew through the jungle and swept a pile of decomposing leaves and brushed past an opening between clusters of ferns and exotic flowers. Blu peered his head from behind a leaf, before brushing it aside with his wing. He proceeded to walk beyond the low lying plants without any second thoughts. Blu was wide awake, calm, and quite content. As far as he cared, his morning was going perfectly. He released a subtle sigh and resumed his soothing stroll through the wilderness. The orange over the horizon faded after some time, and the sun grew more brilliant each passing minute. Blu spied the top of a dead, leafless tree riddled with insect holes. He decided he would fly to the top to get a better view of the rainforest canopy.

The sun hang relatively low over the horizon masked by the sunlit green tops of trees. Wispy clouds sailed by, glowing white under the rising sun. Unusual colors like turquoise and amethyst sparkled in the sky, perfectly blending with the red and orange shades in the apparently icy clouds. In the several years that Blu lived in the Amazon, he hadn't seen anything as colorful, brilliant, nor awe-striking.

When Blu glanced over his shoulder just before deciding to return to the ground, another bird smacked into him, toppling him off of the dead tree's highest branch. While Blu continued sailing toward the ground, unable to break out of his stall, the other managed to regain her balance and flutter to the ground.

"Holy Cornelius Vanderbilt!" Blu yelled the instant before he collided with the earth.

He lay there for a few moments, before releasing a steady groan. The other Spix's Macaw didn't know what she could do to help. Instead, she watched Blu painfully regain his footing. He turned around to see who it was that had knocked him down from above.

When she stood, she was about an inch shorter than Blu with feathers of a lighter shade than his. Longer feathers atop her head rolled down her neck with the tips of them dyed with a red pigment, likely from a richly colored fruit. Her eyes glistened a deep turquoise color, which complimented her dark gray, polished beak. "I… Am so sorry," she begged, putting her wings out in front of her, looking to try and help him.

"Nah, don't worry about it. Just watch where you're going, next time," Blu plainly and calmly replied. "Yeah, but the sunrise was so beautiful!" She said. Blu kept silent and looked about the jungle.

"I guess I should go," she stated, "Nice meeting you!"

Before Blu could say goodbye, she took to the sky and disappeared behind the trees. "Strange", Blu thought. He contemplated the last few moments of his morning, and when he did, he couldn't help but focus on the name he shrieked before beak-planting on the dusty ground. "Cornelius Vanderbilt", Blu repeated to himself, "Even though I meant to say 'oh crap'." The name was of no immediate significance, except that it frequently appeared in a book he read many years ago when he lived in Linda's Bookstore. An image had popped into his head shortly after.

It was one of New York harbor around the mid 19th century, with the main focus being a tall man, standing tall and proud at the helm of a paddlewheel steamboat, with a bold forehead, flanked by crawling sideburns that stretched to his neck. With his hands on the boat's wooden steering wheel, he radiated confidence, leadership and youthful energy.  
Blu continued on his way. He thought it just an old memory from his former life some many summers ago, and naught more.

• • •

Eventually, Blu made his way back to the flock, with each bird going about their daily business as usual. There was little activity about the rainforest. He found Jewel in a bush with her tail feathers poking beyond the leaves.

"Good morning, Jewel," Blu called. "Morning, sweetheart," she answered, "How was your flight?"

"It was alright. I ran into someone, or… She ran into me, heh," Blu began. He was interrupted by a loud metal jingling noise aided by the clunking of a plastic box.

"No, no no!" a female Spix's Macaw yelled as she descended from above. Blu peered over to see who it was. It was the same bird Blu had met earlier, with the same dyed-red feathers atop her head.

"Speaking of which, there she is," he finished. Jewel moved next to Blu and examined the blue-feathered figure from her distance, who was setting the plastic container upright on the ground with her talon. On the ground surrounding her were numerous, half-rusty deck screws.

"Hi. You need any help?" Jewel asked.

"I'm good, thanks," she replied as she gathered them, tossing them one-by-one back into the box. Jewel nodded, then turned around. Blu followed close behind.  
"See you later, Jewel!" the bird yelled.

"See you— Wait a minute!" Jewel caught herself in the midst of saying goodbye. How could that bird have known her name? "Paula!" Jewel gasped. She didn't know what to think. The situation wasn't nearly like her family reunion, however. It was much the opposite, in fact.

She turned back and stared Jewel straight in the eye in acute nervousness.

"Wait! I'm not gonna hurt you, but if Eduardo sees you here, then—"

"Look, I don't mean to interrupt," Blu started, "But… What exactly has she done?"

**10 Years Ago:**

Many years back, on a similarly placid morning, with dew drops on the foliage and the warm glow of the sun, Paula had with her the container of deck screws. They were shiny and untarnished, and the anodized colors gleamed in the sunlight. She was quite proud of her find, however had anyone found out where she had been, she could be in very serous trouble.

She grabbed the metal handle on the plastic box with her talons and looked about the rainforest floor. The feathers that rolled off of her head didn't have their ends dyed red. Just as she was about to take off, Eduardo flapped down from above.

"Paula, where have you been? I've been looking all over for you!" he scolded. Paula cared very little, however he had strongly believed that nobody would find her as far away from the tribe as she was. "Well?" Eduardo asked in a quieter and calmer tone. Paula then built up the courage to tell the truth.

"I was over at the construction site… Collecting scrap metal," she slowly replied. Eduardo immediately became cross.

"I don't know how many times I've told you to stop going there. It's dangerous!"

"I know," Paula replied, "Do you know what would've happened if they saw you?" Eduardo persisted. It was evident, though, that he wasn't getting through to her. He gave up on the berating and proceeded to confiscate of the deck screws.

"Lastly," Eduardo said, claiming the plastic box from Paula, "No human items in the jungle,"

Paula remained there speechless and annoyed as she watched Eduardo take off with her find. Eduardo disappeared shortly thereafter. She knew she would continue to go back near the construction site and search for pieces of scrap, and she did just a few hours later. Paula walked on the ground since she figured that she would more likely be caught if she were flying up in the sky.

Unfortunately, Eduardo found out, and he caught her, once again, returning from her expedition with more metal under her wings. "This is going to far. You're putting the security of the tribe at risk with you wandering around human territory!"

"What are you gonna do? Banish me from the rainforest?" Paula sarcastically snapped, but to her dismay, Eduardo returned an answer which gave her quite an unpleasant surprise.

"You know what? Yes. I simply can't have this going on anymore. Leave!" Eduardo finally yelled. Paula didn't know how to respond. Nobody had ever been flat-out banished from the tribe, to her knowledge. "And don't come back," he added before leaving her behind. All Paula could think about was how absurdly cruel that was. What surprised her, though, was that Eduardo didn't take the pieces of scrap metal from her. Their shapes were indiscernible due to having mostly rusted away.

After much thought and contemplation about the last few moments, she suddenly became paranoid knowing that she was an exile. For the longest of time, she never truly understood why she was banned from ever returning to the tribe. She had no family, and had few friends; the likes of which weren't very close to her. To Paula, it only meant she didn't have a home.

Even so, the sheer embarrassment of being confronted by the tribe leader overwhelmed her. She looked down to the ground, tossing aside the pieces of metal, and she took off.

**Present Day:**

Paula still recalled that day just as it happened, but with each passing day, they had exponentially less of an impact on her. She continued looking back and forth between Blu and Jewel, not knowing what to do or what would happen.

"So, Blu, you can go hang out with Paula for a bit, and…"

"What did she do that made Eduardo, um… Not like her?" Blu asked again, and Jewel pondered the question.

"I don't know. Maybe she can explain that bit to you," Jewel replied. Blu looked back at Paula with an unsure expression, and Paula smiled and waved her wing to playfully remind him of her presence.

"Have fun, guys," Jewel said, catching Blu off guard. She then kissed him on the top of his beak, and waved goodbye. "Wait—" Blu started, but Jewel had already gone completely out of sight. He briefly returned his attention back toward Paula, then looked out into the trees.

"So, erm… I guess we meet again," Blu softly spoke as he continued to gaze in the direction Jewel had left in.

A few minutes of silence passed as they awkwardly stood in close proximity to each other. Blu's eyes darted about the area as he tried hard not to break into an uncomfortable stare with his new acquaintance. After some time, Paula cleared her throat, then asked,  
"So what was that you yelled after you fell from the tree?" The question surprised Blu, but before he answered, he reasoned that most birds living in the amazon wouldn't know what he was talking about.

"It was nothing," Blu simply replied.

"It sounded like someone's name," she persisted. Blu now felt obliged to clarify.

"Cornelius Vanderbilt," Blu said, "He was a steamboat baron –human– who lived over a hundred years ago," "Wait, you know about humans?" Paula asked in a friendly and surprised manner. Her curious eyes became fixed upon Blu's face.

"Well, um… Yeah, I…" Blu stumbled as momentarily lost his train of thought, "Know… some things about them,"  
"I've always been fascinated with them, but Eduardo didn't like that," Paula replied, "Wanna see my place?"  
Blu thought about the question for a short moment.

"Yeah, sure," answered Blu, before Paula began leading Blu to her corner of the Jungle. They walked in a seemingly random direction, past groves of brightly colored flowers and leaves, along with towers of intertwining vines that arched between the smooth tree trunks with coats of moss growing at their bases. The sun was high yet above the jungle as morning shifted to afternoon.

"So, tell me more about Vanderbilt,"

* * *

**I still don't really have all the time in the world, but I've got lots more time than I used to, that's for sure.**


End file.
